The Liberal government is engaged in productive discussions with the New Democratic Party (NDP) to gain support for the federal budget, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland stated during a press conference in Montreal on Monday. Freeland responded to inquiries about whether the Liberals were prepared to risk an election if the NDP withheld support for the budget.
The NDP Leader, Jagmeet Singh, has yet to announce whether his party, which has a supply and confidence agreement with the minority Liberals, will vote to approve the budget. “We’ve had positive discussions with the NDP. I had productive conversations with my finance critic, Don Davies, over the weekend. This budget meets the needs of Canadians,” she said, emphasizing that it makes “historic investments in housing.”
Last week, Freeland presented the federal government’s budget, which heavily emphasizes housing and policies aimed at addressing the challenges faced by millennials and Gen Z. The budget aims to build 3.87 million new homes by 2031 – exceeding the current projected pace by two million – through various measures and funding to accelerate new home construction.
Singh criticized the budget last week for “failing to tackle corporate greed.” The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, has condemned the government’s spending plans and linked the Liberal budget deficits to the rising cost of living. In the House of Commons following the budget’s presentation, Poilievre referred to Trudeau as a fiscal “pyromaniac,” accusing the Liberals’ “wasteful” budget of fueling inflation.
